Italy will no longer accept migrant vessels –Prime Minister Salvini

Italy’s
hardline anti-migration Interior minister has warned that no humanitarian
vessels carrying migrants will be allowed to harbour at Italian ports, the Sun
reports.

Matteo
Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant party the League, wrote in a Facebook post: “Two other ships
with the flag of Netherlands, Lifeline and Seefuchs, have arrived off the coast
of Libya, waiting for their load of human beings abandoned by the smugglers’’

“These
gentlemen know that Italy no longer wants to be complicit in the business of
illegal immigration, and therefore will have to look for other ports [not
Italian] where to go’’.

Previous
week, he sparked international outcry when he refused entry to the Aquarius - a
humanitarian ship operated by a consortium of international NGOs - that rescued
drowning migrants in rubber dinghies in the Libyan coast. The Ship, which has
onboard more than 600 people, is expected to dock in the Spanish city of
Valencia on Sunday, seven days after Italy and Malta sent it away.

The
port closures by the two countries have triggered aid agencies to issue warning
of a deadly summer at sea for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean should
frontline countries continue to block humanitarian ships.

Salvini
is riding on the rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiments gaining grounds in
Italy to bolster his political credentials. The Guardian described him as a
‘strong man’ who is unofficially assuming the role of prime minister and
setting the country’s agenda. The rise of Salvini from a fringe candidate to a
center-stage politician could have far reaching implications for not only the
future of Italy but its role in Europe.